Work machines such as loaders are used in many industries, including the agricultural, construction, and forestry related industries. Loaders are employed for performing various heavy tasks, such as moving soil, and lifting and moving bales of hay, pallets, and other heavy items. Rather than having a work machine being dedicated to performing only a single task, the versatility of such work machines is enhanced and the cost to the owners reduced by providing various attachments that may be interchangeably fitted onto the work machine so as to allow switching from one task to another. For example, a bucket attachment may be attached to the work machine for picking up and moving soil, whereas for moving hay bundles, the bucket attachment may be removed and replaced with a bale spear.
With many work machines, the task of changing attachments may be quite cumbersome, requiring the operator of the work machine to exit the work machine's cab and physically unlatch and remove one attachment, move the work machine to the location of the next attachment, and exit the work machine's cab to physically attach and then latch the new attachment to the work machine. Since the attachments are typically heavy, e.g., weighing upwards of a couple hundred pounds, it is often difficult to force the latches that secure the mounting of the attachment to the work machine between the latched and unlatched positions. This problem is compounded during cold weather, when the operator may be wearing heavy gloves that make the latching/unlatching task more cumbersome.
In order to reduce the operator workload and time it takes to change attachments, various schemes have been developed that automate the latching and unlatching process. However, such schemes often prove dangerous due to inadvertent operation of the automatic latch/unlatch system which may cause an attachment to become detached unintentionally, resulting in physical harm to the operator or others, and potentially damaging the attachment, the work machine, and/or other equipment.
Hence, it is desirable for a work machine to have a latch/unlatch system that is both safe and simple to use.